Not the time to be a party-pooper

Donald Trump has declined to say whether he will attend the Jan 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Let’s hope he goes.

The U.S. will be on the stage that day, being watched not just for the example of our power, but being followed for the power of our example.”

Showcasing two formal rivals, standing together as one takes office, is a key part of American democracy. Such peaceful transfer of power in the United States sends a message of strength and stability to the rest of the world.

No. 1 threat: China poses the greatest threat to the U.S. and democracy around the world since Nazi Germany, and policy makers must be prepared for a prolonged period of confrontation with Beijing, according to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.

The top U.S. spy chief said he’s already shifting resources inside the $85 billion intelligence budget to place more emphasis on China and to ensure America’s intelligence community has “the resources it needs to give policy makers unvarnished insights into China’s intentions and activities.”

Unfriendly skies: Military aviation accidents have killed 224 pilots or aircrew, destroyed 186 aircraft and cost more than $11.6 billion since 2013 — and many aviators believe those numbers will keep rising, a congressional commission established in 2018 to investigate those crashes has found.

“You’d like to think after 18 months we came up with some silver bullet recommendations,” Army Gen. Richard Cody told Tribune News service. “But it’s a whole bunch of things that are out of balance.”

Like father, like daughter: Ivanka Trump got into a Twitter spat with Washington’s attorney general on Thursday after news broke that she was recently questioned in his investigation into her father’s inaugural committee’s sketchy spending patterns.

The Trump daughter claimed Attorney General Karl Racine’s probe into the president’s 2017 inaugural committee is a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”

“This ‘inquiry’ is another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness,” she tweeted shortly after fresh court papers revealed she was deposed in Racine’s investigation on Tuesday.

Hot water: As the Russian navy keeps pressing into the Atlantic, the United States is reviving the Atlantic Fleet, renaming and refocusing its Norfolk-based Fleet Forces Command.

“The Atlantic Fleet will confront the reassertive Russian navy, which has been deploying closer and closer to the East Coast,” said.

Navy Kenneth Braithwaite told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s readiness panel.

TRUMP … may go, may not
https://www.limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2020/12/web1_donald.jpgTRUMP … may go, may not

The Lima News

— Information gathered from Lima News wire reports